Quick on the draw

She calls herself the "60-words-per-minute critic," but she delivers more like 200 words in 20 minutes.

Regardless, artists who submit their work to Lori Waxman's scrutiny can leave in less than a half-hour with a succinct, professional review of it.

She calls herself the "60-words-per-minute critic," but she delivers more like 200 words in 20 minutes.

Regardless, artists who submit their work to Lori Waxman's scrutiny can leave in less than a half-hour with a succinct, professional review of it.

For three days beginning Friday, Waxman will set up shop in Roy G Biv Gallery in the Short North. Painters, photographers, sculptors and other artists who register (along with a few walk-ins next Sunday) will each receive a free assessment of one piece.

Waxman, 33, an art historian and freelance critic for The Chicago Tribune, recently explained why she moonlights as a roving reviewer.

"There are more artists out there than there have ever been, she said, "and at the same time, there's a decrease in the critical response to art."

"Cultural columnists and art critics are being cut at newspapers and periodicals everywhere. It's seen as a dispensable part of our journalistic culture. My response to this is partly serious, partly tongue-in-cheek: I go at it 60 words per minute."

Waxman began her 60 Word/Minute Art Critic project - paid for by a grant from the Warhol Foundation/Creative Capital Arts Writers - in 2005. She has since conducted "performances" in Austin, Texas; Chicago; Knoxville, Tenn; and New York.

In Columbus, student and professional artists alike are eligible.

Waxman will spend 20 minutes looking at and writing about each piece. As she types, the gallery will plug into her laptop and show the process on a monitor. Finished reviews will be posted on a gallery bulletin board.

In addition, artworks left at the gallery will become part of an exhibit on view through March 27.

Gallery director Justin Luna called the project "a great fit" for Roy G Biv's mission of showcasing the work of emerging artists.

"This is a great way to get Columbus to celebrate our local artists," he said. "After she did performances in Chicago and New York, Lori decided she wanted to avoid cities that are considered art meccas and focus on cities that have art communities but not the clout and prestige of big art capitals."

Knoxville, Waxman said, was a city in which her visit made the "artist-critic equation transparent."

"It's radical to have the artist decide if he or she wants a review," she said. "It sort of turns the process upside down."

Chris Molinski, who owned and operated the Knoxville gallery where Waxman wrote reviews, said that, two years later, artists there still talk about the experience.

"We did 36 artists in three days," Molinski said. "It was very intense. We could not fit another artist in. It was jam-packed."

Margaret Sundell, director of the grant program that funded the project, praised Waxman for combining a serious approach to criticism with a sense of humor.

"She demystifies the writing process," Sundell said. "The critic is an actual human being having a dialogue with the artist and the public."

A conversation about art, Waxman said, "is one of the most important ways that we process our world."

"Art has become something people sneer at, don't understand or don't pay attention to. One way to keep cultural production relevant is to write about it."